Taylor powers Patriots into semifinals

February 22, 2014

CLIFTON PARK - Through two playoff games, the Broadalbin-Perth boys basketball team has scored 133 points.

After his most recent effort, 66 of those points have come from senior Andre Taylor, who scored 35 points in a 70-53 win over Hudson in a Section II Class B quarterfinal contest at Shenendehowa High School on Friday.

Taylor, who scored a career-high 31 points in Tuesday's 63-56 win over 11th-seeded Schuylerville, put up another career high against the 14th-seeded Blue Hawks.

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B-P started quickly in the second quarter, opening with a 12-5 burst to grab a 27-15 advantage.

Taylor keyed the surge for the Patriots, scoring 13 points in the quarter, helping B-P take a 36-25 lead into the half.

"It feels good," Taylor said. "At sectional time, somebody's got to step up, and I've been able to step up and score for us the last two games."

The Patriots continued to control the game in the second half, leading by as many as 18 points in the third quarter.

Taylor finished with eight points in the frame for B-P, while Scott continued to score on rebounds and putbacks for Hudson, adding six more points to his total in the third quarter.

"We didn't do a good job on the boards," Gifford said. "If we want to keep moving on, we've got to rebound better."

The Patriots took a 52-38 lead into the final quarter and the Blue Hawks got no closer than nine points the rest of the way.

B-P sealed the win with six straight free throws down the stretch, four from Dingman and two from Connor Pingitore.

Taylor led all scorers with his 35-point effort for B-P, while Ryan Dingman finished with 14 points. Taylor also had nine rebounds and three assists for the Patriots. Chris Natoli added 11 rebounds and three steals for Broadalbin-Perth.

"He's [Taylor] tough. He's a good player and we knew we needed to stop him, but we couldn't find an answer for him tonight," Briscoe said.

Scott finished with 21 points to lead Hudson.

"Malcolm [Scott] had a big game for us tonight," Briscoe said.

The victory was the sixth straight for B-P, which has won 12 of 13 games after starting the season 3-4.